Live updates: House GOP set to tackle Senate's work on Trump megabill
The House Rules Committee advanced the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' early Wednesday morning after an hours-long meeting. With some conservatives and moderates unhappy with the Senate's changes to the legislation, its fate in the chamber remains unclear. The panel adopted the procedural rule in a 7-6 vote, with two Republicans — Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — against the measure.
On Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had attendance concerns, citing weather, which could trip up the plan to get the bill to Trump's desk by Friday, the July 4 deadline.
Trump has no public events planned for Wednesday.
But his legal team notched a win, with the announcement overnight that Paramount Global has agreed to settle a high-profile lawsuit brought by Trump over a CBS News '60 Minutes' interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired last fall. The deal comes after months of legal sparring and tension between the two sides.
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Boston Globe
21 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Young Democrats have called for a rebrand. They're vying to replace the party's old guard
In southern Arizona on Tuesday, Foxx is one of several Democrats hoping to step into a deep blue seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a longtime political power broker in Tucson. He had become one of the most senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill over two decades in Congress. Grijalva's daughter, Adelita, is one of the contenders, and three Republicans are vying in the GOP primary. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But the push for younger leaders won't end there. In next year's midterm elections, primary challengers have already begun to emerge in states like California and Indiana that will give Democratic voters choices between longtime lawmakers and younger candidates. Advertisement In Georgia, for example, 80-year-old Democratic Rep. David Scott's decades-long legacy could end with a primary he's expected to join. This has drawn challengers fed up with his refusal to step aside despite years of concern about his declining health and rare public appearances. The primary got crowded almost a year after former President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election race amid similar scrutiny over his age. Advertisement Challenging well-connected candidates can be daunting, but progressive leaders say the moment calls for urgency. 'Passing of the torch implies the leaders are handing it off,' said Amanda Litman, head of a group called Run for Something that bolsters progressive young candidates. 'What we're seeing right now is, the new generation is taking the torch. They're not waiting for it to be passed.' Campaigning online Many Boomer and Gen Z candidates alike have largely abandoned the traditional playbook of spending millions on TV ads in favor of TikTok and social media. But it's a pivot that older political hands would recognize from an older playbook: meeting voters where they are. Foxx, a digital strategist, led influencer strategy for Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign bid. On TikTok, she speaks to nearly 400,000 followers, saying she'd be the first woman of 'our' generation elected to Congress. In 2022, Florida voters elected the generation's first congressman — Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost. The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, which Frost co-chairs, has endorsed Adelita Grijalva. Foxx has leaned into popular Gen Z internet slang in branding her district tour 'Crashout or Congress.' 'Does the news make you feel like you're about to crash out? Be honest,' Foxx posted. Foxx said her campaign turned a corner after a primary debate in late May, when some clips of her performance drew the eyes of millions and helped spark a fundraising boost. If Scott seeks another term in his suburban Atlanta district, he'll face several candidates in the Democratic primary next May: microbiologist and state Rep. Jasmine Clark, 42; state Sen. Emanuel Jones, 66; and 33-year-old Everton Blair, former chair of the state's largest school district. Scott's campaign did not respond to requests for an interview. Advertisement Clark racked up 7,000 TikTok followers after a popular influencer reposted her. She occasionally pops in with solutions to people's problems on NextDoor and is sometimes recognized as a podcast host instead of a state representative. She says Republicans have done a better job at saturating social media with their messaging. 'Instead of looking at Republicans and wagging our fingers at them, we could take some lessons from them,' she said. Message or messenger? Voters have been crushed by high living costs, Clark said, but Republicans, not Democrats, have been the ones to tell people their pain is real — even though Democrats have better ideas for fixing things. Blair agreed that Democrats have better policy prescriptions for addressing voters' economic concerns, but he said too many longtime lawmakers have stifled the party's ability to get that message across. He said President Donald Trump is fattening the wallets of billionaires but cheating low- and middle-income voters 'out of the American dream.' 'We have an incumbent who is just not doing the job, and we need a better fighter,' Blair said. 'The stakes are just too high.' Young people have grown up in a political climate dominated by algorithms, said 21-year-old Akbar Ali, first vice chair of the Democratic Party in Gwinnett County, home to some of Scott's district. That gives them a built-in understanding of how information spreads today, he said, but doesn't replace on-the-ground outreach to voters of all ages. He said Scott's physical absence is palpable, both in the community and as a voice in Congress. 'A lot of people are upset on a national level because we can't hit back with enough vigor.' he said. Advertisement Adelita Grijalva carries a household name in Tucson and is regarded as the frontrunner. To Foxx, Grijalva benefits from her 'legacy' last name. Grijalva, who has received several endorsements, including from Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has pushed back. She said she brings her own credentials to the table. Her father was progressive and antiestablishment, and she said she is, too. But Foxx, who benefited personally from some government programs the Trump administration has slashed or is looking to slash, said Democrats need to do more to reach new voters. 'We are bringing people into this party, into this democracy, who have felt left out — by and large young people and working-class folks,' Foxx said. A positive vision In New York City, 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani recently won the mayor's race with an upbeat campaign that leaned heavily on TikTok and emphasized finding new ways to make city life more affordable. In an era where so many young people doubt they'll ever be better off than their parents, they're increasingly willing to ditch pragmatism for bold policy platforms, said David Hogg. Hogg was removed from his leadership role with the Democratic National Committee, which said his election broke party rules. His decision not to run again followed his push to oust long-serving Democrats in safe congressional seats. He has not backed away from his vow to primary 'asleep-at-the-wheel' Democrats with fresher faces. People of all ages want a fighter who understands what's at stake as Trump cuts Medicaid and other programs that millions of Americans rely on, Hogg said. That's why his political action committee, Leaders We Deserve, endorsed Foxx. Young voters were key to Democratic wins in recent years, but some swung to the right as Trump made gains in 2024. Hogg said he's looking for candidates to 'win them back' by talking about how change happens. Advertisement Older candidates can do that too, he said, but for better or worse, young people aren't yet 'jaded' by politics. 'In this dark moment, we need people who can provide us a general sense of hope, as crazy that can feel sometimes,' Hogg said. 'To believe that maybe things won't be as screwed up as they are now forever.'
Boston Globe
21 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
US sanctions Cuban President Díaz-Canel and other officials for human rights violations
'The U.S. will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba, and make clear no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere,' Rubio said in the statement. Advertisement The Trump administration has taken a harder line against Cuba's government than the Biden administration. In addition to Díaz-Canel, the U.S. sanctioned Cuban Defense Minister Álvaro López Miera and Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas. Shortly after the announcement, Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. department in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, lashed out at Rubio, calling him a 'defender of genocide, prisons and mass deportations.' The rare protests in 2021 came about after repeated blackouts in Havana and other cities. One man died and some marches ended in vandalism. Groups supporting the government responded along with authorities to repress the protests. Human rights groups estimated there were more than 1,000 arrests but the government gave no official figures. Advertisement At the time, the Cuban government said it was the result of a U.S. media campaign and decades of U.S. sanctions. In 2022, Cuban prosecutors said some 790 people were investigated for acts related to the protests ranging from disorder to sabotage and vandalism. The advocacy group 11J, whose name alludes to the protests, said late last year there were 554 people serving sentences related to the protests, but some were given conditional release in January after an appeal from Pope Francis.
USA Today
37 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump said he'd end Ukraine war in 24 hours. Now his patience with Putin is wearing thin.
Only last month the American president called Russia's Vladimir Putin 'very kind.' Now Donald Trump says Putin's words are 'meaningless.' President Donald Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in office. But now, more than 4,000 hours in, Trump's patience with Vladimir Putin, whom the U.S. president only last month called "very kind," appears to be wearing thin. Relations have hit a wall as Russia's leader has pushed forward with intensifying drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities while appearing to repeatedly rebuff Trump's attempts to broker a ceasefire. "We get a lot of b**shit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth," Trump told reporters on July 9, summing up what Ukrainians and other seasoned Russia watchers have been saying for two decades. "He's very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Here's how the Trump-Putin geopolitical love affair turned sour. Trump and Putin got off to a good start Trump initiated direct talks with Putin shortly after taking office, saying − much to Putin's delight − that he was effectively ready to let Russia keep the Ukrainian territory it had already taken when Moscow invaded Kyiv in February 2022. Trump also said that Ukraine's Crimea region, which Putin seized in 2014, "will stay with Russia." At the same time, Trump said he was not interested in spending more on Ukraine's defense, an issue that exploded out into the open when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House in February. "You don't have the cards right now," Trump told Zelensky in remarks that were carried live on TV and appeared to belittle Ukraine's leader. Trump said Putin had been the victim of a "phony" American "witch hunt." He said Ukraine would need to make concessions and started pressing Kyiv to sign an agreement over its mineral wealth. 'My favorite president': Donald Trump and the art of world leader bromances Putin escalates Ukraine attacks American intelligence agencies and officials have for years struggled to understand Putin's precise foreign policy goals. In Ukraine, their best guess is he wants to weaken it as much as possible as part of an effort to keep it out of the NATO military alliance and retain or restore Russia's cultural and economic sphere of influence around its borders. That means grabbing Ukraine's land and wearing down the morale of its people and communities through wave after wave of drone and missile attacks that have killed thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations. War crimes in Ukraine: Kyiv's push for swift justice What Putin has made clear, at least in the timeframe that he's renewed talks with the White House, is that he's still intent on pounding Ukraine to deadly effect. In fact, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, Russia's drone and missile strikes on Ukraine have increased following Trump's January inauguration. It has appeared to take Trump some time to publicly acknowledge this. But he did eventually, saying in April, "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!" One Ukrainian who lives in Kyiv said in a WhatsApp message that he, his wife and kids are "going completely mad" with having to repeatedly run to bomb shelters, metro stations and underground parking garages to seek shelter at a rate they have not had to do since the start of the 3.5-year-old war. An evolving policy to meet an evolving relationship Trump has spent years praising and appearing to carefully avoid criticizing Putin. The origins of this admiration are not well understood. Both men say they first met face-to-face on the sidelines of a 2017 international summit in Germany during Trump's first term. But Trump has also gone on the record saying that he met Putin for the first time in 2013 on a visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. Whatever the case, five months ago, Trump said that he knows Putin "very well" and believes he "wants peace" in Ukraine. Still, two rounds of Trump-brokered, indirect ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia have come to nothing. And after multiple phone calls with Putin since taking office, Trump now appears to be shifting his thinking − and actions − on Putin and Russia. After a brief pause, he's ordered the Pentagon to restart shipping weapons to Ukraine. The White House is ramping up pressure on European countries to pitch in more to support the air defense supplies that Ukraine most needs. Some countries have complied in recent days. Momentum is building for bipartisan legislation that would impose severe sanctions on Russia − amounting to a 500% tariff − on any country that buys, sells or supplies Russian oil, gas and petroleum if Russia refuses to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said that the bill could be ready for a vote as soon as this month. 'We need a Russia sanctions bill that puts some real constraints on the ability of the president to play on again, off again, with Vladimir Putin,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in an interview. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on July 10 in Malaysia that Moscow had presented a "new concept" that could open the door to peace during a meeting he had with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Rubio said they shared some ideas and information that he would take back to Trump. Trump, for his part, has teased a "major" statement on Russia early next week. Is the bromance finally over? Did it ever really start? Putin is a former KGB officer who has long trafficked in misinformation, disinformation, propaganda and outright lies. Trump often makes false or misleading claims in his speeches and social media posts. 'Trump," former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Bill Taylor said in a media appearance this week, "has now figured it out that Putin is the problem."
